^hjAcH 





Book— Xj-4ii^("^ 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 



IX HONOR OF 



^mm\ JJabrt J. tytt, 



HELD IN THE 



OT. CWsiM&ES FME&TME, 



rTJESDAT, OOTODQIEIF^, 13, 1870. 



PUBLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 



NEW ORLEANS: 

PRINTED AT THE BULLETIN JOB OFFICE. 133 GRAVIES STREET. 



/ 

MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 



n 

General Robert E. Lee, 



IX HONOR OF 



HELD IN THE 



ST. CHAELES THEATEE, 



Tuesday, October 18, 1870. 



PUBLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 



NEW ORLEANS: 

PRINTED AT THE BULLETIN JOB OFFICE, 133 GRAYIER STREET. 

1870. 



X4& 



GHfl 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



At a meeting of the citizens of Xew Orleans, 
held Saturday evening, the loth October, 1870, 
for the purpose of making arrangements to pay 
tribute, in an appropriate manner, to the memory 
of General Bobert E. Lee, who died October 
the 12th, 1870. 

Col. George Clark was called to the chair, and 
T. H. Higinbotham appointed Secretary, 

On motion, it was resolved, that the memorial 
ceremonies be held on Tuesday evening, October 
18, at the St. Charles Theatre; and that the chair 
appoint two committees, one on Arraxge^iexts 
and the other on Organization, Besolutioxs 
and Orators, with full power to make all the 
necessary arrangements for carrying out the 
objects of this meeting. 

The chair appointed: On Organization, Orators 
and Besolutions — D. M. C. Hughes, J. D. Blair, J. 
C. Goodrich, and E. L. Jewell. 

On Arrangements, etc. — Wni.TVren, A. H. Isaac- 
Son, C. F. Yerlander, C. E. Bailey, H. Higin- 
botham, Jr., E. A. Palfrey, G. McD. Burke, W. 
L Hodgson. 

Col. George Clark was authorized to solicit sub- 
scriptions to defray the expenses of this meeting. 

GEO. CLABK, President 
T. H. Higinbotham, Secretary. 
^ew Orleans, October 15, 1870, 



tE,> 

o. i 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

ST. CHAELES THEATRE, 

Tuesday Evening, October 18, 1870. 

In response to the invitation of the Committee 
of tlie Lee Memorial Ceremonies, published in the 
various city papers, a large concourse of ladies 
and gentlemen assembled at the St. Charles The- 
atre, to participate in the honors paid to the 
memory of General Robert E. Lee, 

At seven o'clock the meeting was called to 
order by Mr. Edwin L. Jewell, of the Committee 
on Organization, who said: 

Ladies and Gentlemen — It has devolved upon 
me to call to order and organize this vast con- 
course of people, who, in this their hour of 
bereavement have assembled together, thus spon- 
taneously as it were, and in this grand, eloquent 
and impressive manner, to pay homage to him, 
who, in patriotism and goodness, was the equal of 
Washington and his superior in military genius 
and in intellectual attainments. And, although 
the manly form of the heroic soldier, statesman 
and christian has passed away from earth, and 
his noble, God-like spirit returned to its creator 
yet, the name of Robert E. Lee will live in the 
annals of history and in the hearts of a grateful, 
loving people, down "to the last syllable of 
recorded time." 

Ladies and gentlemen — I have the honor of 
presenting to you, as President of this meeting, 
3Ir. Charles Andrew Johnson. 



MEMORIAL CEBEMONIES. 



5 



The following named gentlemen have been 
selected to act as Vice-Presidents on this occasion, 
and as their names are called, they are requested 
to come forward and occupy seats upon the stage : 



Gen. Bragg, 
A. L. Stuart, 
M. O. H. Norton, 
Col. E. Waggaman, 
L. B. Coleman, 
Thomas Sloo, 
J. J. Finney, 
W. M. Perkins, 
Dr. G. W. Brickell, 
Dr. J. S. Copes, 
T. A. Adams, 

A. Chiapella, 
J. Tuyes, 
John Pasley, 
J. P. Smith, 

Dr. W. H. Holcombe, 

H. Peralta, 

C. Cavaroc, 

E. J. Hart, 

J. Janney, 

Dr. Howard Smith, 

B. M. Turnbull, 
S. Toby, 

W. G. Eobinson, 
W. A. Shropshire, 
Judge W. H. Cooley, 



Gen. G. T. Beauregard, 

Gen. J. B. Hood, 

S. O. Xelson, 

Gov. J. B. Weller, 

Dr. AY. X. Mercer, 

Dr. E. S. Drew, 

John Davidson, 

M; Musson, 

S. H. Kennedy, 

W. S. Pike, 

P. S. Wiltz, 

Gen. D. H. Maury, 

Geo. Jonas, 

Joseph Ellison, 

C, Potthoff, 

W. M. Eandolph, 

W. J. Seymour, 

Am. Fortier, 

H. M. Summers, 

Theo. Shuts, 

Judge E. Abell, 

S. Magner, 

P. Fourchy, 

E. L. Bruce, 

J. B. Collie, 

John AYitherspoon, 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



Dan'l Edwards, 
Ar. Miltenberger, 

E. S. Charles, 

F. W. Seymour, 

Gen. A. G. Blanchard, 

John W. Bingham, 

E. Toby, 

T. S. Williams, 

Henry Bid well, 

J B. Vanhorn, 

W. J. Castell, 

A. Couturie, 

Geo. Cronan, 

P. Nugent, 

E. H. Fairchild, 

O. Voorhies, 

J. B. Heno, 

A. Meulier, 

E. H. Marr, 

E. Walmsley, 

Hanson Kelley, 

Win. Lynd, 

C. Dufour, 

G. A. Breaux, 
C. E. Carr, 
Alex. Walker, 
Eandell Hunt, 
Dr. W. G. Austin, 
P. C. Cuvellier, 
L. Prados, 



W. H. Vredenburg, 

H. O. Seixas, 

Eichard Taylor, 

E. Pritchard, 

M. Marigny, 

Col. A. P. Mason, 

Judge L. Duvigneaud, 

J. C. Eogers, 

E. S. Keep, 

J. Q. A. Fellows, 

E. Eenas, 

E. J. Kerr, 

M. Lagan, 

A. E. Bickinan, 

G. W. Eace, 

J. A. Stevenson, 

D. F. Keiiner, 
Emile LeSere, 
Major E. Strong, 
P. H. Foley, 

A. W. Merriam, 

E. Limet, 

J. Hassinger, 
J. H. New, 
Sam Henderson, 
C. Eoselius, 
Judge J. B. Cotton, 
J. Ad. Eozier, 
C. A. Miltenberger, 
S. H. Boyd, 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



M. A. Foute, 
Tom Henderson, 
J. C. Van Winkle, 
Henry B. Foley, 
J. M. Sandiclge, 
Douglas West, 
John A. Grow, 

A. Voorliies, 
T. G. Hunt, 

Dr. T. G. Eichardson, 

J. T. Doswell, 

G. W. Beaman, 

G. M. Bayly, 

Dr. J. D. Brans, 

P. Irwin, 

J. G. Gaines, 

J. H. Carter, 

Capt. T. P. Leathers, 

Dr. W. P. Brewer, 

B. W. Adams, 
G. DeFeriet, 
B. Miliken, 
Chas. Macready, 
B. Pitkin, 

J. Wm. Davis, 

T. I. Dix, 

Sam'l Maiming Todd, 

L. H. Pilie, 

S. Friedlander, 

Y. Heerman, 



M. Lardner, 
J. J. Noble, 

F. Labatiit, 

B. S. Moss, 

Col. F. Dmnonteil, 
Charles Yillere, 

C. H. Mouton, 
Judge T. W. Collens, 
Dr. B. H. Moss, 
Edward Barnett, 

A. G. Ober, 

A. N. Ogden, 

G. W. Campbell, 
Judge J. N. Lee, 
H. McCloskey, 
T. L. Bayne, 

G. W. Manson, 
Geo. D. Hite, 
J. C. Sinnott, 

B. Gerson, 

Dr. J. S. Lewis, 
W. H. Letchford, 
W. H. Henning, 
B. T. Packwood, 
T. McKenna, 
J. U. Payne, 
George Freret, 
Pas. Labarre, 

D. B. Penn, 

B. M. Montgomery, 



8 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



J. B. Walton, 
S. P. Power, 
H. Block, 
J. W. Cannon, 
J. J. Corson, 
J. I. Adams, 
Jolm Burnside, 

A. H. May, 
L. Schneider, 
John Meyers, 
J. Armstrong, 
C. H. Slocombj 
John Henderson, 
G. W. Hynson, 
W. M. Owen, 

T. B. Lee, 
Samuel Bell, 
F. G. Barriere, 
John Sanders, 
John Williams, 

B. M. Howell, 
W. Dameron, 
J. P. Moore, 
T. C. Jenkins, 

F. C. Zacharie, 
Frank Bawle, 
Geo. Y. Bright, 
B. M. Doswell, 
Samuel Smith, 

G. W. Logan, Jr., 



T. L. Macon, 
S. L. James, 
J. E. Vose, 

E. A. Tyler, 
E. W. Halsey, 
I. X. Marks, 
Joseph Hoy, 
W. B. Schmidt, 

A. T. Bennett, 
Wm, Creevy. 
H. Doane, 

H. A. M. Farwell, 

B. X. Lewis, 
G. A. Fosdick, 

C. W. Squires, 
L. X. Lane, 

W. M. Smallwood, 
Alfred Moulton, 
C, T, Smith, 
E. John Harris, 
John Chaffe, 
C. E. Carr, 
Bichard Herrick, 
Jos. Santini, 
J. C. Denis, 
A. G. Brice, 
John Hawkins, 
T. Gwathney, 
Samuel Powers, 
E. D. Bringier, 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



W. V. TTren, 
X. Trepagnier, 
P. Gravoir, 
S. H. Aby, 
Henry Abraham, 

E. Peale, 

J. P. Eondeau, 
Hermann Eice, 
A. Eousset, 
J. F. A. Boyle, 
C. H. Luzenberg, 
J. H. TTingfield, 
J. J. Brown, 
J. S. Lanphier, 
J. W. Blackmore, 
Dan Hickok, 
G. H. Braughn, 
L. Folger, 
J. L. Lewis, 
John Breen, 

F. Lefranc, 

0. T. Buddeeke, 
S. B. Newman, 
Marshall J. Smith, 
Samuel Barnes, 
Stoddart Howell, 
Jos. H. Wilson, 
Geo. C. Sebastian, 
J. K. Bell, 
W, H. Beahman, 



A. Fuselier, 
J. L. Segur, 

F. H. Hatch, 
L. Homes, 
Y. Mayer, 
L. Gallot, 

Dr. Samuel Logan, 
T. W. Blake, 
J. B. C amors, 
Henry Haller, 
L. Ferriere, 
ZSTelson McStae, 
L. Christ, 
H. Ton Phul, 
T. S. Elder, 
J. M. Gould, 
J. J. Hughes, 
0. Xewton, 
X. Dufour, 

G. A. Bredow, 
Moses Greenwood, 
T. 0. Herndon, 

L. A. Wflte, 
Edward Eigney, 
S. Ferguson, 
L. H. Gardner, 
Jos. Domingo, 
J. G. Flemming, 
F. Holyland, 
J. B. Leefe, 



10 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

E. K. Converse, T. Eusbach, 
James Kerr, Jr., Dan. Scully, 
J. E. Kelso, B. T. Walshe, 
K T. K Eobinson, C. Cavenac, 
J. G. Campbell, C. B. Watts, 
John M. Butts, Geo. W. Sizer, 
Emile J. O. Brien, W. J. Salter, 
John W. Hillman, Henry J. Vose, 
Henry B. Kelly, J. M. McCandlish, 

F. Dolhonde, W. C. Raymond, 
I. Caulfield, John Tobin, 
Jas. C. Batchelor,M.D., Jno. Crickard. 

The following named gentlemen have been 
appointed Secretaries: 
T. H. Higinbotham, John D. Britton, 
J. C. Abrams, E. 0. Payne, 

William H. Cantzon. 

Ladies and gentlemen— I introduce to you 
Charles Andrew Johnson, the President of the 
meeting. 

Mr. Johnson then spoke as follows: 

Ladies and Gentlemen— -In behalf of the Vice 
Presidents and other officers of this meeting, as 
well as in my own behalf, I desire to express to 
your Committee of Arrangements our profound 
acknowledgment of the honor assigned to us. 

In accordance with custom, ladies and gentle- 
men, it might be deemed my duty to state form- 
ally the object and purposes of this meeting; but 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 11 

when I reflect upon the profound emotion, which 
has agitated this community for many days, an 
emotion which seems to have increased rather 
than subsided; when I behold the draperies and 
tokens of mourning, which still shroud our streets 
and thoroughfares, it would seem supurilous to 
do more than merely allude to the purpose that 
has brought together this immense assembly. 
For who does not know, that on this wide conti- 
nent there was not another man, than Lee, whose 
life furnished an example of such shining quali- 
ties, such a remarkable combination of intellect- 
ual and moral worth? What other than such a 
man could have cast in gloom so many hearts of 
the people of the country ! 

I, consequently, ladies and gentlemen, with a 
bare allusion to the object of the meeting, j)roceed 
with the programme prepared by the Committee 
of Arrangements, and in accordance with that 
programme the audience is invited to listen to 
prayer by the Eev. Mr. W. F. Adams. 

The Kev. Mr. W. F. Adams then offered the 
following prayer : 

Oh, God, whose days are without end, and 
whose mercies cannot be numbered: make us, we 
beseech Thee, deeply sensible of the shortness 
and uncertainty of human life; and let Thy Holy 
Spirit lead us through this vale of misery, in 
holiness and righteousness, all the days of our 
lives : that, when we shall have served Thee in our 



12 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, 
having the testimony of a good conscience; in 
the communion of the Catholic Church; in the 
confidence of a certain faith; in the comfort of a 
reasonable, religious and holy hope ; in favor with 
Thee, our God, and in perfect charity with the 
world. All of which we ask through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. 

The music (Jaeger- s ' Band) then performed 
Stall at Mater. 

The President requested the attention of the 
audience to the address to be delivered by the 
Hon. Wm, M. Burwell. 

The Hon. Wm. M. Burwell spoke as follows: 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen — The sad 
and sudden occasion which has assembled you 
together, and which has cast upon one, wholly 
unworthy to fulfil the duty, the task of offering 
some comments on the character and services of 
the distinguished dead, is one which fills every 
heart with emotion, and me with apprehension of 
inability to discharge the duty imposed upon me. 

This great event upon the page of American 
history is fraught with signs to the political phil- 
osophers and filled with great import to him, 
who looks at the moral attributes, that have 
influenced this assembly. 

Why is it, that we behold here together assem- 
bled the staid matron, the beautiful maiden, as 
well as the graver and more responsible citizens 1 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 13 

What has brought this people together? It is 
the voluntary, unbought and uripurchasable trib- 
ute to the moral principles of the great dead. 
And, my countrymen, it is a great encourage- 
ment, for it teaches us that all virtue is not dead 
in the land; it teaches that there are chords in 
the human hearts that may be touched by the 
display of such attributes of character, as those 
which belonged to the man whom we have come 
here to commemorate. 

In the performance of the duty, which the 
kindness of others has cast upon me, I have 
felt unwilling to trust to spontaneous thought, 
and in duty to myself and you, and to the great 
occasion which has brought us together, reduced 
to writing those reflectors which I have deemed 
appropriate to the occasion, and for which I 
must offer my apology that they are insufficient 
to express our feelings. 

The Eepublican -Constitution of the United 
States of America has, like the Divine Constitu- 
tution for the moral government of man, been a 
subject of bitter and bloody controversy. The 
one is fraught with the salvation, the other with 
the freedom of mankind. In these august wars 
each combatant has claimed to be the exponent 
of the true faith. Each has denounced the doc- 
trines and reviled the motives of the other, and 
the terms of orthodox and heretic in the one con- 
flict, have been the synonyms of loyalist and 



14 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

rebel in the other. Impartial mankind has 
always clone justice to those who peril life for 
faith. The names of Luther and of Loyola, of 
Hampden and of Eussel, of Washington and of 
Adams, of Hancock and of Henry, have survived 
the venom of contemporaneous defamation, in 
the worship of all who reverence courage and 
virtue. It was his fidelity to truth which has 
raised Eobert Edmund Lee, by the brevet of 
universal acclamation, to take rank with those 
deemed worthy the Apotheosis of civil and reli- 
gious liberty. 

In the debates upon the true construction of 
the American Constitution, one creed was, that 
paramount sovereignty resulted to the Federal 
Government from the compact and concession 
of the States, or of the whole people. It was the 
belief of another party that sovereign power, 
incapable alike of alienation or division, remain- 
ed with each of the separate States which had 
created the Government. As this controversy 
originated with the men who had fought the 
revolution and framed the Union, no imputation 
upon their motives or memory, has ever been 
entertained. But it resulted from this radical 
and irreconcilable difference of opinion, that 
when the jurisdiction of the Federal and State 
Government came in ultimate and armed .conflict, 
that those who believed in the sovereignty of 
the separate States, felt that their personal alle- 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 15 

gianee was primarily due to the States of which 
r they were citizens. 

In this latter sentiment and spirit Eobert E. 
Lee, at the beginning of the late civil war, took 
his stand on the side of his mother State. It 
was natural and consistent that he should have 
done so. The descendant of Englishmen, who 
had maintained legal liberty, from Eunnymede 
to Yorktown. Allied by blood to that Eichard 
Henry Lee, who was the first to move in the first 
Continental Congress, on the seventh June, 1776, 
a resolution, " That these United Colonies are, 
and ought to be, free and independent States ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the 
British crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the state of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be, totally dissolved.*' The son of 
Light Horse Harry Lee, whose daring and des- 
perate combats for American liberty have in- 
spired the genius of the orator, the patriot and 
the poet, and of whom the Congress of the United 
States has said: " Notwithstanding rivers and 
intrenchments, he, with a small band, conquered 
the foe by warlike skill and prowess, and firmly 
bound by his humanity those who had been 
conquered by his arms." 

Born in the same Westmoreland which had 
given Washington to the cause of republican 
freedon; reared amid the scenes, associations 
and traditions which impressed upon his heart 



16 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

the ineffable virtues of his great countryman, 
and even allied by marriage to his adopted 
family, it is not wonderful that he should have 
adopted the doctrines of these great examples 
on the one hand, as he has emulated their deeds 
on the other. With Eichard Henry Lee, he 
believed that the States are and of right ought 
to be "free and independent." With George 
Washington, he deliberately renounced an allegi- 
ance and surrendered a commission to a govern- 
ment which he had served with honor, and 
resolved to follow the fortunes of a State which 
had decided to dissolve "its political connection" 
with that to which he had owed service. With 
him, he renounced a career which had led to 
renown, and must have ended in content and 
prosperity. 

With both these great examples, he perilled 
life, fame and fortune upon the result of a strug- 
gle of which his oWn knowledge convinced him 
more than any other man the desperate ine- 
quality. 

But the leading trait of Lee's character was 
one which he possessed in common with Wash- 
ington. It was fidelity to duty. When called 
by the dictates of conscience, professional glory 
had no bands, wealth and station no attraction ; 
defeat, disappointment, death, no terrors, which 
could restrain or deter him. At the call of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, whom he had been 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 17 

taught to reverence above all other human 
authorities, he placed his all at her command. 
In this he did no more than the humbler thous- 
ands who accompanied him. He claimed no 
merit marks for duty, nor do they. "With a con- 
scientious conviction of having performed his 
duty, he accepted his lot. It was insult, disfran- 
chisement, poverty. It was exile from every 
privilege which he had inherited. And yet how 
different was his conduct from that of many 
eminent exiles, from Marius to ^Napoleon ! Ko 
moody discontent, no vindicative vituperation, 
no base betrayal or desertion of those who had 
followed him, no ex parte narrative to sho'W that 
every one was to blame for what had happened 
except himself. He never paid to fortune the 
abject tribute of complaint, but bound the cross 
that God had laid upon him to his bosom, and 
bowed with meekness under the torture that 
inscrutable wisdom had alio ted. Lexington Las 
proved a Patmos from which has emanated les- 
sons of peace and good will. 

What an example has he offered to his friends 
and to his enemies : of a loyal and scrupulous 
maintenance of his parole as a soldier, and of his 
renewed allegiance as a man; a life of labor, 
for the honest maintenance of those dependent 
on him; a devotion of his days to the instruc- 
tion of youth in the knowledge which would lit 



i8 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

tliem to restore tlie prosperity and renown of 
their beloved country. 

In his personal appearance, General Lee com- 
bined fine bodily proportions, with a dignified 
courtesy of manner. His composure was such 
that he never evinced an undue excitement in 
victory, nor an unmanly depression in defeat. 
He was accessible at all times, and to all men. 
A faithful and consistent follower of Christ, he 
was as unassuming in his religious as in his pro- 
fessional character. His family relations were 
perfect. He treated with unvarying tenderness 
and respect, his wife, for years an uncomplaining 
invalid; a partner who appreciated his worth and 
fully sympathized with the weight of duty which 
had been so long, and so often cast upon him. 

Perhaps no family was ever more truly united 
by the ties of affection, or enjoyed more the 
respect and attachment of friends. His sons were 
his companions in peace and his comrades in 
camp; his daughters, modest examples of exalt- 
ed womanhood and filial duty; his friendships 
were well chosen and permanent. His fondness 
for children was proverbial. Spending the eve- 
ning with a large party during the siege of 
Eichmond, he would avoid, with considerate 
politeness, a conversation upon strategy or poli- 
tics, and devoted himself to enjoying the company 
of little girls who crowded about him. It seemed 
a relief from the cares of the camp and the per- 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 10 

plexities of the situation, to look upon their 
happy faces and listen to their kindly words. 

While President of Washington College, he 
rode on horseback, accompanied by one of his 
daughters, on a short tour across the mountains. 
In passing the defile of the Peaks of Otter, two 
children were playing among the rocks at a short 
distance from their humble home. On seeing 
the travelers they moved towards the house, and 
as their path was parallel with the road, General 
Lee asked "why they ran away?" and "If they 
were afraid of him?" "Xo sir," replied a little 
girl, " We are not afraid of you, but we are not 
dressed nice enough to see you? 

"Why, who do you think I am?" u You are 
General Lee; we knew you by your picture!" 

It may be appropriate, gentlemen and ladies, 
to mention as a most remarkable evidence of the 
honor, confidence and affection of the people 
towards General Lee, that while the strong arm 
of the Government was wholly incompetent to 
supply the deficiency of the commissariat, and it 
was almost impossible for the army to move, the 
thought occurred to solicit the commander of the 
army to apply to the people, and he addressed 
them an autograph letter. The people respond- 
ed; the women dusted their meal bags for the 
last remnant, and gave almost the last bacon 
that they had. Thus, through the confidence of 
the people in him, and the attachment of the 



20 memorial Ceremonies. 

army to their commander, relief was obtained, 
which it was impossible to obtain by any amount 
of force. 

These small incidents are mentioned because 
they are significant, and testify, precisely as you 
do to-night, to the voluntary confidence of the 
people, to their entire conviction that he was a 
just, upright and good man ; and they felt, as 
you do now, that there was no service that they 
could render, no sacrifice they would not endure 
to promote any object at his request, because 
they were confident that he never had any object 
except it was honorable and useful. 

It was thus that he was enshrined in the popu- 
lar heart, and imprinted on the popular memory. 
His hold upon the soldiers of the Southern States 
was founded on their instinctive appreciation of 
the grandeur and gentleness ot his nature. Xo 
shadow of doubt ever crossed their thoughts of 
him. The fathers and mothers of the South com- 
mitted their sons and their substance to him with 
the same confidence in his fidelity. They de- 
lighted to give him proofs of their affection and 
of their trust. A farmer, Mr. Matthews, of 
Pulaski County, "Virginia, had a very valuable 
young horse worth an incredible sum in those 
days of need. He requested a neighbor who wae 
to visit the army to look at General Lee's stabls, 
and see whether "the old man would be the bet- 
ter of a good horse." Hearing that such was the 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 21 

case, lie offered the horse as a present to the 
General. Learning the character of the farmer, 
and his ability to bestow a present so acceptable 
as a war horse, he wrote such an acceptance of 

the patriotic offer, that the fanner declared with 
emotion that such a letter was worth more than 
any present could have been. 

When at the siege of Richmond it was so diffi- 
cult to obtain supplies that the army was upon 
one occasion almost without food. General Lee 
addressed an autograph letter to the people. At 
once the women of Virginia sent from their 
scanty stores a share of that which was needed 
to sustain their own household, and the necessi- 
ties of the army was abundantly, though tempo- 
rarily, relieved. 

It is some alleviation of the grief which weighs 
down the Southern heart, that the personal and 
professional character of Robert E. Lee has ex^ 
cited the respect and the condolence of those who 
had opposed the cause to which he had devoted 
his services. As the South came to see that the 
violent deatli of a Northern President may have 
deprived them of a humane advocate, so the 
North feels that the example and influence of 
General Lee disposed the Southern people to 
restored social and political relations. He had 
won the enhusiastic confidence of the South by 
his unfaltering fidelity in war. and his noble 
participation in the social suffering which has 
succeeded it. 



22 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

He has earned the admiration of the North by 
the scrupulous honor with which he has kept the 
parole obligations as a soldier and a citizen. 
Both sections owe obligations to this brave and 
truthful man. Both silently approach his grave, 
and cast into its solemn portals some emblem of 
an animosity which can no longer harm any 
except him who may cherish it. From this day, 
and from these scenes, will arise a calmer, a more 
generous feeling, among those who were but 
lately in deadly enmity. It becomes us all to 
acknowledge ourselves not exempt from the 
weakness and errors of humanity. Mourning 
the madness which has divided and distracted 
the country, and threatened the extinction of the 
only ray of freedom now alight in the world, we 
may, in the presence of the grave, and the spirit 
of him who fills it, unite in a sincere wish for 
peace, and a regret for all the sorrow, and all 
the wrong which have been endured or inflicted 
by other sections. Like the scriptural example, 
we may cover ourselves with the mantle of obli- 
vion, and, walking reverently backward, cast it 
over and conceal the infirmities which have 
caused us so much sorrow. 

The countrymen of Lee are consoled to know 
that anger is but a very short madness. His 
character and motives will rise superior to any 
cloud of sectional prejudice which may overhang 
them. The day and hour will come when, as 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 23 

England claims George Washington as a grand 
specimen of Anglo-saxon virtue, intellect and 
manhood, republican America will proudly enroll 
the name of Robert E. Lee as a noble example of 
the virtue and courage of an American, who 
fought for what he regarded as the birthright of 
civil and religious freedom, which his fathers had 
won and bequeathed to him. 

[The address was received with marked ap- 
plause.] 

After the performance by the band of the 
u Prayer from Moses in Egypt/' the President 
requested the attention of the audience to the 
oration to be delivered by the Hon. Thos. J. 
Sevdies. 

oration. 
Robert E. Lee is dead. The Potomac, over- 
looked by the home of the hero, once divided, 
contending peoples, but now no longer a bound- 
ary, it conveys to the ocean a nation s tears. 
South of the Potomac is in mourning: profound 
grief pervades every heart, lamentation is heard 
from every hearth, for Lee sleeps amid the slain, 
whose memory is so dear to us. In the language 
of Moina: 

''They were slain for us, 
"And their blood flowed out in a rain for us, 
u Red, rich and pure, on the plain for us. 
"And years may go, 
"But our tears shall rlow 
'•'O'er the dead who have died in vain for us." 



24 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

North of the Potomac, not only sympathises with 
its widowed sister, but with respectful homage, 
the brave and generous, clustering around the 
corpse of the great Virginian, with one accord 
exclaim, 

This earth that bears thee, dead, 
Bears not alive so stout a gentleman. 

Sympathetic nations, to whom our lament- 
ations have been transmitted on the wings of 
lightning, will, with pious jealousy, envy our 
grief, because Robert E. Lee was an American. 
Seven cities claimed the honor of having given 
birth to the great Pagan poet; but all christian 
nations, while revering America as the mother of 
Eobert E. Lee, will claim for the nineteenth cen- 
tury the honor of his birth. The nineteenth 
century has attacked everything; it has attack- 
ed God, the soul, reason, morals, society, the 
distinction between good and evil. Christianity 
is vindicated by the virtues of Lee. (Applause.) 
He is the most powerful and the most brilliant 
argument in favor of a system illustrated by such 
a man; he is the type of the reign of law in the 
moral order; that reign of law which the philo- 
sophic Duke of Argyle has so recently, and so 
ably, discussed as pervading the natural, as well 
as the supernatural, world. There was but one 
Lee, and his fame justly belongs to Christen- 
dom, because he was the type of the christian 
soldier, the christian patriot and the christian 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 2o 

gentleman. (Applause.) One of the chief char- 
acteristics of the christian, is duty. Throughout 
a checkered life, the conscientious performance 
of duty seems to have been the mainspring of 
the actions of General Lee. In his relations of 
father, son, husband, soldier, citizen, duty shines 
conspicuous in all his acts. His agency, as he 
advanced to more elevated stations, attracts 
more attention and surrounds hirn with a bright- 
er halo of glory; but he is unchanged throughout, 
from first to last — it is Eobert E. Lee. (Applause.) 

The most momentous act of his life, was the 
selection of sides at the commencement of the 
political troubles, which immediately preceded the 
recent conflict. High in military rank, caressed 
by Gen. Scott, courted by those possessed of influ- 
ence and authority, no politician, hax>P3' in his 
domestic relations, and in the enjoyment of com- 
petent fortune, consisting in the main of property 
situated on the borders of Virginia; nevertheless, 
impelled by a sense of duty, as he himself testi- 
fied before a Congressional committee since the 
war. General Lee determined to risk all, and unite 
his fortunes with those of his native State, whose 
ordinances, as one of her citizens, he considered 
himself bound to obey. 

Having joined the Confederate army, he com- 
plained not that he was assigned to the obscure 
duty of constructing coast defences for South 

Carolina and Georgia, nor that he was sub- 

o 



26 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

sequently relegated to unambitious commands in 
Western Virginia. The accidental circumstance, 
that Gen. Joseph E. Johnson was wounded at 
the battle of Seven Pines, in May, 1862, placed 
Lee in command of the army of Northern Vir- 
ginia. As commander of that army, he achieved 
world wide reputation without giving occasion 
during a period of three years, to aoy complaint 
on the part of officers, men or citizens, or ene- 
mies, that he had been guilty of any act, illegal, 
oppressive, unjust, or inhumane in its character. 
This is the highest tribute possible to the wisdom 
and virtue of General Lee, for as a general rule, 
law was disregarded ; officers, whether justly or 
unjustly, were constantly the subject of complaint; 
and discord, and jealousy prevailed in camp, and 
in the Senate chamber. There was a fraction of 
our people represented by an unavailing minority 
in Congress, who either felt or professed to feel, 
a jealousy, whose theory was just, but whose 
application at such a time was unsound. They 
wished to give as little power as possible, because 
they dreaded a military despotism, and thus de- 
sired to send our armies forth with half a shield 
and broken swords, to protect the Government 
from its enemies, lest if the bucklers were entire 
and the swords perfect, they might be tempted, 
in the hey-day of victory, to smite their em- 
ployers. 
But this want of confidence never manifested 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 27 

itself toward General Lee, whose conduct satis- 
fled the most suspicious that Ms ambition was 
not of glory, but of the performance of duty. 
The army always felt this; the fact that he sacri- 
ficed no masses of human beings in desperate 
charges that he might gather laurels from the 
spot enriched by their gore. (Applause.) A 
year or more before he was appointed Command- 
er-in-Chief of all the Confederate forces, a bill 
had passed Congress creating that office. It 
failed to become a law, the President having 
withheld his approval. Lee made no complaints; 
his friends solicited no votes to counteract the 
veto. When a bill for the same purpose was 
passed at a subsequent period, it was whispered 
about that he could not accept the position. To 
a committee of Virginians who had called on 
him to ascertain the truth, his reply was that he 
felt bound to accept any post the duties of which 
his country believed him competent to perform. 
(Applause.) 

After the battle of Gettysburg he tendered his 
resignation to President Davis, because he was 
apprehensive his failure, the responsibility for 
which he did not pretend to throw on his troops 
or officers, would produce distrust of his abilities 
and destroy his usefulness. I am informed the 
President, in a beautiful and touching letter, 
declined to listen to such a proposition. During 
the whole period of the war he steadily declined 



28 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

all presents, and when, on one occasion, a gen- 
tleman sent him several dozen of wine, he turned 
it over to the hospitals in Eichmond, saying the 
wounded and sick needed it more than he. (Ap- 
plause.) He was extremely simple and unosten- 
tatious in his habits, and shared with his soldiers 
their privations as well as their dangers. Toward 
the close of the war meat, was very scarce with- 
in the Confederate lines in the neighborhood of 
the contending armies. An aid of the President 
having occasion to visit General Lee on official 
business in the field, was invited to dinner. The 
meal spread on the table, consisted of corn bread 
and a small piece of bacon buried in a large 
dish of greens. The quick eyed aid discovered 
that none of the company, which was composed 
of the General's personal staff, partook of the 
meat, though requested to do so in the most 
urbane manner by the General, who presided; 
he, therefore, also declined, and noticed that the 
meat was carried off untouched. After the meal 
was over, h^ inquired of one of the officers pres- 
ent what was the reason for this extraordinary 
conduct. His reply was: '-TTe had borrowed the 
meat for the occasion and promised to return 
it." (Applause.) 

Duty alone induced this great soldier to sub- 
mit to such privation, for the slightest intimation 
given to friends in Eichmond would have filled 
his tent, with all the luxuries that blockade-run- 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 29 

ners and speculators, had introduced for the 
red few able to purchase. 

This performance of duty was accompanied by 
no harsh manner or cynical expressions; for 
man whose soul is ennobled by true hero: 
possesses a heart as tender as it is firm. His 
calmness under the most trying circumstances, 
and his uniform sweetness of manner were al- 
most poetical. They manifested ''the most sus- 
tained tenderness of soul that ever caressed the 
chords of a lyre.'* In council he was temperate 
and patient, and his words fell softly and evenly 
as snow flakes, like the sentences that fell from 
the lips of Ulysses. 

On the termination of the war. his conduct 
until his death has challenged the admiration of 
friends and foes; he honestly acquiesced in the 
inevitable result of the struggle; no discontent, 
sourness or complaint, has marred his tranquil 
life at "Washington College, where death found 
him at his post of duty, engaged in fitting the 
young men of his country, by proper discipline 
and education, for the performance of the varied 
duties of life. It is somewhat singular that both 
; and his great Lieutenant. Jackson, should in 
their last moments have referred to Kill. It 
reported that General Lee said "Let my tent be 
struck: send for Hill;" while the lamented Jack- 
son, in his delirium, cried out. ,; Let A. P. H 
prepare for action; march the infantry rapidly 



30 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

to the front. Let us cross over the river and rest 
under the shade of the trees.'' Both heroes died 
with commands for military movements on their 
lips; both the noblest specimens of the christian 
soldier produced by any country or any age; 
both now rest under the shade of the trees of 
Heaven. (Applause. ) 

Great God ! is it possible that Eobert E. Lee 
is dead? Is it possible that we shall no more 
behold the noble countenance of him, whose 
portrait is before you? Is it possible that we 
shall no longer hear that voice with its tone of 
honor and of peace? Is it possible that we shall 
hear it no longer? Can we realize the extent of 
this terrible loss? 

Oh! if that great spirit be present, hovering 
over this spot, we beseech him to ascend with 
our lamentations and prayers to the just and 
Almighty God, that He may suspend the rod of 
punishment on this afflicted people, and healing 
all dissensions, that each man in the nation may, 
untrammeled and unostracised, enjoy the fruits 
of ancestral liberty. (Prolonged applause.) 

After the performance of an a Aria from Lucie" 
by the band, the President requested the atten- 
tion of the meeting to the eulogy to be pro- 
nounced by Eev. Dr. B. M. Palmer: 

Ladies and Gentlemen — I should have been 
better pleased had I been permitted to sit a sim- 
ple listener to the eloquent tribute paid to the 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 31 

iinniortal chieftain, who now reposes in death, by 
the speaker who has just taken his seat. The 
nature of my calling so far separates me from 
public life that I am scarcely competent for the 
office of alluding to the elements which naturally 
gather around his career. When informed that 
other artists would draw the picture of the war- 
rior and the hero, I yielded a cheerful compliance, 
in the belief that nothing was left but to describe 
the christian and the man. You are entirely 
familiar with the early life of him over whose 
grave you this night shed tears. His academic 
career at West Point, brilliant with such names 
as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston; his seizure of the 
highest honors, long apprenticeship in that insti- 
tution, and abrupt ascension in the Mexican 
war from obscurity to fame — all are too firmly 
stamped in the minds of his admirers to require 
even an allusion. 

You are too familiar to need a repetition from 
my lips of that great mental and spiritual strug- 
gle passed not one night, but many, when aban- 
doning the service in which he had gathered so 
much of honor and reputation, to lay his heart 
upon the altar of his native State, and swear to 
live in her defence. 

It would be a somewhat singular subject of 
speculation to discover how it is that national 
character so often remarkably expresses itself in 
the single individuals who are born as re}>resen- 



32 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

tatives of a class. It is wonderful, for it has been 
tlie remark of ages, how the great are born in 
clusters; sometimes, indeed, one star shining 
with solitary splendor in the firmament above, 
but generally gathered in grand constellations, 
filling the sky with glory. What is that combi- 
nation of influences, partly physical, partly intel- 
lectual, but somewhat more moral, which should 
make a particular country productive of men 
great over all others on earth and to all ages of 
time? 

Ancient Greece, with her indented coast, invit- 
ing to maritime adventures, from her earliest 
period, was the mother of heroes in war, of poets 
in song, of sculptors and artists, and stands up 
after the lapse of centuries, the educator of 
mankind, living in the grandeur of her works, 
and in the immortal productions of minds which 
modern civilization, with all its cultivation and 
refinement, and science, never surpassed and 
scarcely equalled. 

And why, in the three hundred years of Amer- 
ican history, it should be given to the Old. 
Dominion to be the grand-mother, not only of 
States, but of the men by whom States and 
emjrires are formed, it might be curious were it 
possible for us to inquire. Unquestionably, Mr. 
President, there is in this problem the element of 
race, for he is blind to all the truths of history, 
to all the revelations of the past, who does not 



ME3I0MAL CERE3I0XIES. 33 

recognize a select race as we recognize a select 
individual of a race, to make all history; but 
pretermitting all speculation of that sort, when 
Virginia unfolds the scroll of her immortal sons, 
not because illustrious men did not precede him 
gathering in constellations and clusters, hut 
because the name shines out through those com 
stellations and clusters in all its peerless grand- 
eur we read the name of George Washington, 
(Applause.) 

And then, Mr. President, after the interval of 
three-quarters of a century, when your jealous 
eye has ranged down the record and traced the 
names that history will never let die, you come 
to the name— the only name in all the annals of 
American history that can be named in the peril- 
ous connection— of Eobert E. Lee. (Applause.) 
The second "Washington. (Applause.) Weil may 
old Virginia be proud of her twin sons. (Ap- 
plause.) Born almost a century apart, but shin- 
ing like those binary stars which open their 
glory and shed their splendor on the darkness of 
the world. Sir, it is not an artifice of rhetoric 
which suggests this parallel between two great 
names in American history- for the suggestion 
springs spontaneously to every mind, and men 
scarcely speak of Lee without thinking of a mys- 
terious connection that binds the two together. 

They were alike in the presage of their early 
history — the history of their boyhood. Both 
2* 



34 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

earnest, grave, studious; both, alike in tliat pecu- 
liar purity that belongs only to a noble boy, and 
which makes him a brave and noble man, filling 
the page of a history spotless until closed in 
death; alike in that commanding presence which 
seems to be the signature of Heaven sometimes 
placed on a great soul, when to that soul is given 
a fit dwelling place — alike in that noble carriage 
and commanding dignity — exercising a mesmeric 
influence, and a hidden power which could not 
be repressed upon all who came within its charm; 
alike in the remarkable combination and symme- 
try of their intellectual attributes, all brought up 
to the same equal level, no faculty of the mind 
overlapping any other; all so equal, so well 
developed, the judgment, the reason, the mem- 
ory, the fancy, that you are almost disposed to 
deny them greatness, because no single attribute 
of the mind was projected upon itself— just as 
objects appear sometimes smaller to the eye from 
the exact symmetry and beauty of their propor- 
tions — alike, above all, in that soul greatness, 
that christian virtue, to which so beautiful a 
tribute has been rendered by my friend, whose 
high privilege it was to be a compeer and com- 
rade with the immortal dead, although in another 
department and sphere — and yet, alike, Mr. Presi- 
dent, in their external fortune, so strangely dis- 
similar — the one the representative and the agent 
of a stupendous revolution, which it pleased 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 35 

heaven to bless, and give birth to one of the 
mightiest nations on the globe; the other the 
representative and agent of a similar revolution, 
upon which it pleased high heaven to throw the 
darkness of his frown ; so that bearing upon his 
generous heart the weight of this crushed cause, 
he was at length overwhelmed : and the nation 
whom he led in battle gathers with spontaneity 
of grief over all this land, which is plowed with 
graves and reddened with blood, to render the 
tears of the widow over his cold grave. (Ap- 
plause.) 

But, sir, these crude suggestions, which fall 
almost impromptu from my lips, suggest that 
which I desire to offer before this audience to- 
night. I accept Eobt. E. Lee as the true type of 
the American man, and the Southern gentleman. 
(Applause.) A brilliant English writer has well 
remarked with a touch of sound philosophy, that 
when a nation has rushed upon its fate, the 
whole force of the national life will sometimes 
shoot up in one grand character, like the aloe 
which blooms at the end of a hundred years, 
shooting up in one single spike of glory, and then 
expires. (Applause.) And wherever philosophy, 
refinement and culture have gone upon the globe, 
it is possible to place the finger upon individual 
men who are the exemplars of a nation's char- 
acter, those typical forms under which others 
less noble, less expanded, have manifested them- 
selves. 



36 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

Why, sir, that gentle, that perfect moderation, 
that self-command which enabled him to be so 
self-possessed amidst the most trying difficulties 
of his public career, a refinement almost such as 
that which marks the character of the purest 
woman, were blended in him with that massive 
strength, that mighty endurance, that consist- 
ency and power which gave him and the people 
whom he led such momentum under the disad- 
vantages of the struggle through which he 
passed. 

Born above the general level of American 

society, blood of a noble ancestry flowed in his 

veins, and he was a type of the race from which 

he sprang. Such was the grandeur and urbane- 

ness of his manner, the dignity and majesty of 

his carriage, that his only peer in social life could 

be found in courts and among those educated 

amidst the refinements of courts and thrones. 

In that regard there was something beautiful 

and appropriate that he should become in the 

later years of his life the educator of the young. 

Sir, it is a cause for mourning before high heaven 

to-night, that he was not spared thirty years to 

educate a generation for the time that is to come ; 

for ss in the days when the red banner streamed 

over the land, the South sent their sons to fight 

under his banner and beneath the wave of his 

sword, these sons have been sent again to sit at 

his feet when he was a disciple of the Muses 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 37 

and the teacher of philosophy. (Applause.) Oh, 
that he might have brought his more than regal 
character, his majestic fame, all his intellectual 
and moral endowments, to the task of fitting 
those that should come in the crisis of the future, 
to take the mantle that had fallen from his 
shoulders and hear it to the generations that 
were unborn. 

General Lee I accept as the representative of 
his people, and of the temper with which this 
whole Southland entered into that gigantic, that 
prolonged, and that disastrous struggle which 
has closed, hut closed as to us. in grief. Sir, 
they wrong us who say that the South was ever 
impatient to rupture the bonds of the American 
Union. The war of 1776, which, sir, has no more 
yet a written history than has the war of 18(31 to 
1885, (applause.) tells us that it was this South- 
land that wrought the revolution of 1776. (Ap- 
plause.) TTe were the heirs of all the glory of 
that immortal struggle. It was purchased with 
our blood, with the blood of our fathers, which 
yet flows in these veins, and which we desire to 
transmit, pure and consecrated, to the sons that 
are born to our loins. (Applause.) The tradi- 
tions of the past sixty years were a portion of 
our heritage, and it never was easy for any great 
heart and reflective mind even to seem to part 
with that heritage to enter upon the perilous 
effort of establishing a new nationality* 



38 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

Mr. President, it was ray privilege once to be 
thrilled in a short speech, uttered by one of the 
noblest names clustering upon the roll of South 
Carolina ; for, sir, South Carolina was Virginia's 
sister, and South Carolina stood by Virginia in 
the old struggle as Virginia stood by South 
Carolina in the new (applause) and the little 
State, small as Greece, barren in resources but 
great only in the grandeur of the men, in their 
gigantic proportions, whom she, like Virginia, 
was permitted to produce — I heard, sir, one of 
South Carolina's noblest sons speak once thus : 
" I walked through the Tower of London, that 
grand repository where are gathered the memo- 
rials of England's martial prowess, and when the 
guide in the pride of his English heart pointed 
to the spoils of war, collected through centuries 
of the past, said this speaker, lifting himself upon 
tip-toe that he might reach to his greatest height, 
I said, you can not point to one single trophy 
from my people, or my country, though England 
engaged in two disastrous wars with her." (Ap- 
plause.) Sir, this was the sentiment. We loved 
every inch of American soil, and loved every 
part of that canvas (pointing to the Stars and 
Stripes above him) which, as a symbol of power 
and authority, floated from the spires and from 
the masthead of our vessels; and it was after 
the anguish of a woman in birth that this land 
that now lies in her sorrow and ruin took upon 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 39 

herself that great peril ; but it is all emblemat- 
ized in the regret experienced by him whose 
praises are upon our lips, and who, like the 
English kelson, recognized duty engraved in 
letters of light as the only ensign he could follow, 
and who, tearing away from all the associations 
of his early life, and abandoning the reputation 
gained in the old service, made up his mind to 
embark in the new, and with that modesty and 
that firmness, belonging only to the truly great, 
expressed his willingness to live and die in the 
position assigned to him. 

And, sir, I accept this noble chieftain equally 
as the representative of this Southland in the 
spirit of his retirement from the struggle. It 
could not escape any 1 speaker upon this platform 
to allude to the dignity of that retirement — how 
from the moment he surrendered, he withdrew 
from observation, holding aloof from all political 
complications, and devoting his entire energies 
to the great work he had undertaken to dis- 
charge. In this he represents the true attitude 
of the South since the close of the war — an 
attitude of quiet submission to the conquering 
power, and of obedience to all exactions — but 
without recoiling from those great principles 
which were embarked in the struggle, and which, 
as the convictions of a lifetime, no honest mind 
could release. (Applause.) 

Sir, all over this laud of ours there are men 



40 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

like Lee — not as great, not as symmetrical in the 
development of character, not as grand in the 
proportions which they have reached, but who, 
like him, are sleeping upon memories that are 
holy as death — (applause) — and who, amidst all 
reproach, appeal to the future, and to the tribunal 
of history, when she shall render her final verdict 
in reference to the struggle closed, for the vindi- 
cation embalmed in that struggle. (Applause.) 
We are silent, resigned, obedient, and thoughtful, 
sleeping upon solemn memories, Mr. President ; 
but as said by the poet preacher in the Good 
Book, u I sleep, but my heart waketh" looking 
upon the future that is to come, and powerless in 
everything except to pray to Almighty God who 
rules the destinies of nations, that those who 
have the power may at least have the grace given 
them to preserve the constitutional principles 
which we have endeavored to maintain. (Ap- 
plause.) And, sir, were it my privilege to speak 
in the hearing of the entire nation, I would utter 
with the profoundest emphasis this pregnant 
truth : that no people ever traversed those moral 
ideas which underlie its character, its consti- 
tution, its institutions and its laws, that did not 
in the end perish in disaster, in shame and in 
dishonor. (Applause.) Whatever be the glory, 
the material civilization of which such a nation 
may boast, it still holds true that the truth is 
immortal, and that ideas rule the world. (Ap- ; 
plaiise.) 



ME3I0KIAL CEREMONIES. 41 

And now, sir, I have but a single word to say, 
and that is that the grave of this noble hero is 
bedewed with the most tender and sacred tears 
ever shed upon a human tomb, 

I was thinking in my study this afternoon, 
striving to strike out something I might utter on 
this platform, and this parallel between the first 
Washington and the second occurred to me. I 
asked my own heart the question, would you not 
accept the fame, and the glory, and the career of 
Eobert E. Lee, just as soon as accept the glory 
and career of the immortal man who was his 
predecessor? (Applause.) Sir, there is a pathos 
in fallen fortunes which stirs the sensibilities 
and touches the very fountain of human feeling. 
I am not sure that at this moment Xapoleon, 
the enforced guest of the Prussian King, is not 
grander than when he ascended the throne of 
France. There is a grandeur in misfortune, when 
that misfortune is borne by a noble heart, with 
the strength of will to endure, and endure without 
complaining of breaking. Perhaps I slip easily 
into this train of remarks, for it is my peculiar 
office to speak of that chastening with which a 
gracious Providence visits men on this earth, 
and by which he prepares them for heaven here- 
after ; and what is true of individuals in a state 
of adversity, is true of nations when clothed in 
sorrow. Sir, the men in these galleries that once 
wore the gray are here to-night that they may 



42 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

bend the knee in reverence at the grave of him 
whose voice and hand they obeyed amidst the 
storms of battle — the young widow, who, but 
as yesterday, leant upon the arm of her soldier 
husband, but now clasps wildly to her breast the 
young child that never beheld its father's face, 
comes here to shed her tears over this grave 
to-night — and the aged matron, with the tears 
streaming from her eyes as she recalls her unfor- 
gotten dead, lying on the plains of Gettysburg, 
or the heights of Fredericksburg (applause), now, 
to-night, joins in our dirge over him, who was 
that son's chieftain and guide, and counsellor 
and friend. 

A whole nation has risen up in the spontaneity 
of its grief to render the tribute of its love. 
Sir, there is a unity in the grapes when they 
grow together in the clusters upon the vine, and 
holding the bunch in your hand you speak of it 
as one; bat there is another unity When you 
throw these grapes into the wine press, and the 
feet of those that bruise these grapes, trample 
them almost profanely beneath their tread, and 
the rich, warm, ripe, red blood flows together in 
the communion of pure wine : and such is the 
union and communion of hearts that have been 
fused by tribulation and sorrow, and that meet 
together in the true feeling of an honest grief to 
express the homage of their affection, as well as 
to render a tribute of praise to him upon whose 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 43 

face we shall never look until on that immortal 
day we shall behold it transfigured before the 
throne of God. (Applause.) 

After a Miserere from Yerdi, Mr. E. L. Jewell 
then offered the following resolutions, which were 
unanimously adopted, by an universal rising of 
the audience : 

After the performance of " Miserere" by the 
band, Hon. E. L. Jewell spoke as follows: 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen — On the 
part of the Committee on Resolutions, I beg 
leave to submit the following for the adoption of 
the meeting : 

Whereas. Like orphans at the grave of a 
parent untimely snatched away, our hearts have 
lingered and brooded, with a grief that no cun- 
ning of speech could interpret, over the thought 
that Robert Edmond Lee exists no more, in bod- 
ily life, in a sensible form, in visible presence, 
for our love and veneration, for our edification 
and guidance, for our comfort and solace; and 

Whereas, we have invoked all funeral em- 
blems to aid us with their utmost eloquence of 
woe, and we cannot sate ourselves with con- 
templating, from the depth and the gloom of our 
bereavement, the exalted and radiant virtues of 
the dead — 

Resolved, That we, the people of Xew Or- 
leans, have come together, under one common 
impulse, to render united homage to the memory 
which holds mastery in our minds, whether we 
turn with bitter regret to the past, or with pray- 
erful and chastened aspirations to the future. 



44 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

Resolved, That as Louisianians, as Southern- 
ers, as Americans, we proudly claim our share in 
the fame of Lee as an inheritance rightfully 
belonging to us, and endowed with which, we 
shall piously cherish, though all calamities should 
rain upon us, true poverty — the poverty, indeed, 
that abases and starves the spirit — can never 
approach us with its noisome breath or wither- 
ing look. 

Resolved j That it is infinitely better to have 
to mourn the loss of our Lee, than not to have 
learned to prize him as the noblest gift which 
could have been allotted to a people and an 
epoch; a grand man, rounded to the symmetry 
of equal moral and intellectual powers, graces, 
and accomplishments; a man whose masterly 
and heroic energy left nothing undone in defend- 
ing a just cause, while there was a possibility of 
striking for it a rational and hopeful blow, and 
whose sublime resignation, when the last blow 
was struck in vain, and when human virtue was 
challenged to match itself with the consummation 
of human adversity, taught wiser, more convinc- 
ing, more reassuring, more soul-sustaining les- 
sons than were to be found in all the philosophies 
of all the books. 

Resolved ', That worthily to show our veneration 
for this majestic and beautiful character, we 
must revolve it habitually in our thoughts, and 
try to appropriate it to the purification and ele- 
vation of our lives, and so educate our chil- 
dren that they shall, if possible, grow up into 
its likeness. 

Resolved, That while it is honorable for a peo- 
ple to deeply lament the death of such a man, it 
would be glorious for a generation to mould 
itself after his model; for it would be a genera- 



^IEjIORIAL CJBBEMONIES. 45 

tion fraught with all high manly qualities, tem- 
pered with all gentle and christian virtues; for 

truth, love, goodness, health, strength would he 
with it, and consequently victory, liberty, majesty 
and beauty. 

Resolved, That we would hail the erection of 
the proposed monument as well adapted to the 
purpose of preserving this admirable and most 
precious memory, as a vital and beneficent influ- 
ence for all time to come, and we will therefore 
cordially aid in promoting the Lee monument, 
which has just been inaugurated. 

Mr. President, I ask the adoption of these res- 
olutions by the universal rising of the audience. 

Mr. President: The audience has heard the 
resolutions; those who are in favor of the adop- 
tion of these resolutions will please rise. 

The whole audience then rose, and the resolu- 
tions were declared unanimously adopted. 

The band then played a funeral march of Mey- 
erbeer, after which the President introduced the 
Eev. Dr. Leacock, who pronounced the benedic- 
tion. 

The audience then slowly dispersed, the band 
playing a solemn dirge. 



46 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



The following gentlemen are appointed as a 
Eeception Committee, at the St. Charles Theatre, 
for Tuesday evening, October 18th, and are re- 
quested to be punctual in attendance at half past 
five o'clock p. M., to receive their badges and 
instructions : 

A. W. Bosworth, Chairman. 



John E. Livaudais, 
John W. Labouisse, 
Frank Green, 
Amar Cromwell, 
Louis A. Adam, 
Anthony Sainbola, 
Peter Labouisse, 
Harry M. Isaacson, 
Albert Vaught, 
Bernard Avegno, 
Forrester Dolhonde, 

E. C. Bond, 
Warren Homes, 
Gray Doswell, 
T. S. Barton, 
B. F. Jonas, 
Win. Steven, 
St. L. Dupeire, 
A. Pitot, 

H. W. Palfrey, 
W. E. Steever, 

F. 1ST. Ogden, 
T. Lee Shute, 



B. F. Eshleman, 
John Bartly, 
John C. Bach, 
A. I. Leverich, 
H. A. Kingston, 
J. E. Austin, 
Walter J. Hare, 
J. Calhoun Walton, 
Wm. E. Huger, 
Louis J. Salomon, 
Ignatius Caulfleld, 
Thomas J. Beck, 
Wm. P. Harper, 
M. A. Tarlton, 
Curtius C. Lewis, 
L. L. Levy, 
J. L. Sherry, 
John Dolhonde, 
Jas. Zacharie, 
Wm. Palfrey, 
Jas. S. Prestige, 
W. A. Bell, 
Frank H. Green, 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 



47 



Archibald Campbell, 
Leonce Bonny, 
Cliarles Baquie, 
B. T. Walshe, 
P. J. Christian, 
Charles Pescay, 
Henry Ginder, 
H. Higinbotham, Jr., 
Wm, T. Vandry, 

D. M. Jenkins, 
Walter H. Sogers, 

E. M. VanWickle, 

E. P. Eareshide, 
George Mather, 

S. B. Newman, Jr., 
Lucien Dubuys, 
Dr. J. C. Lagare, 
Dr. J. T. Scott, 
T. Tupper, 
Fred. Wang, 
Geo. E. Pitcher, 
Dr. Alexander Hart, 
Theo. P. Whitney, 
Jas. D. Edwards, 
H. G. Battles, 
H. D. McGinnis, 
Edwin Marks, 
Henry J. Mather, 

F. E. Southrnayd, 
J. H. Menge, 



B. J. Montgomery, 
J. H. Crippen, 
K L. Brace, 
W. H. Pierson, 
E. G. Wells, 
A. W. Hyatt, 
Charles W. Culbertson, 
Chas. DeLassns, 
W. E. Lyman, 
John Gilmore, 
John Finney, 
J. L. Levy, 
Louis Cormier, 
G. W. Carey, 
Wallace Ogden, 
Maynard Doswell, 
W. W. Clayton, 
Gus. A. Wang, 
Julius Yairin, 
J. C. Shipley, 
Chas. T. Xash, 
W. J. Behan, 
*H. D. McCown, 
E. L. McMurdo, 
G. C. Kendall, 
P. Buchanan, 
Jos. B. Wolfe, 
E. T. Schmidt, 
E. Conery, Jr., 
M. A. Peck, 



48 



JIE3X0RIAL CEEE3I0XIES. 



Clias. E. Leverich, 
Wm. De Lacy, 
M. W. Olooney, 
H t E. Shropshire, 
A. C. Herndon, 
Thos. J. Duggan, 
Butler ILruinbaar, 
E. H. Levy, 
Frank Knox, 
Clias. A. Green, 
A. M, Eicldle, 
Louis Colomb, 
P. E. O'Koiirke, 
Walter Irvins, 
M. F. Bonis, 
Harlow J. Phelps, 
W. G. Tin cent, 
Wm. G. Coyle, 
W. C. Wilson, 
C. E. Bridges, 
Jno. T. Piattsmier, 
P. Eaireliild, 
Dr. J. 0. Holt, 
Fred. K Thayer, 
Jas. Strawbridge, 
Eobert W. Simmons, 
Gerard Stith, 
Thos. M. Scott, 
W. A. Freret, 
E. S. Winneniore, 



B. W. Seawell, 
J. Watts Kearney, 
Frank MeElroy, 
B. M". Ogden, 
Jos. H. Duggan, 
M. Buck Miller, 
Wm. Bosworth, 
Isaac S. Lyons, 
W. H. Eaueh, 
B. L. Moore, 
H. A. Block, 
Jno. H. Eees, 
E. M. Lusher, 
Montegut Arroyo, 
John Phelps, 
Arch. Craig, 
D. G. Cooke, 
Edward Ivy, 
Thos. McCay, 
Dr. A. Anfoux, 
Chas. E. Fenner, 
W. H. Moon, 
H. P. Janvier, 
Chas. H. Bosworth, 
Henry J. Warner, 
John G. Fleming, 
John S. STeyland, 
Samuel Alston, 
Cornelius Fellowes, 
Dr. A. Chastant, 



MEMORIAL CEEE3IOXLES. 



4<> 



\V. Watt Divine, 
W. T. Claverius, 
K. J. Springbett, 
Tracy TwitcheU, 
J. J. E. Massicot, 
Henry Wilde, 
J. U. Jarreau, 
E. 0. Hancock, 
By order : 



Phil. Yon Coin, 
Chas. O. Hardy, 
Alex. Moses, 
Wm. S. Bosworth, 
Fred. A. Johnson, 
John B. Waterman, 
T. W. Bothick, 

Wm. Wren, Chairman. 



W. I. Hodgson, Secretary. 



50 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 

At a meeting of the Committee of the " Lee 
Memorial Ceremonies; 5 held on Tuesday evening, 
the 25th of October, the following reports were 
read and adopted : 

The Treasurer reported that he had col- 
lected 8658 00 

That the expenses, as per vouchers, were 020 90 



Leaving a balance on hand of §37 10 

The Committee of Arrangements reported that 
they had donated to the St. Anna's Asylum and 
to the Asylum of the Little Sisters of the Poor 
the material used in the draping of the St. Charles 
Theatre. 

On motion, it was 

Resolved, That the Treasurer be authorized to 
pay over to Mr. O. M. Tennison the balance on 
hand of thirty-seven dollars and ten cents, for 
his services as stenographic reporter of the pro- 
ceedings of the meeting held in the St. Charles 
Theatre. 

On motion, it was 

Besohed, That three thousand copies of a pam- 
phlet containing the proceedings of the meeting, 
together with the addresses of the Hon. Wm 31. 
BurwelL Hon. Thos J. Semmes and the Eev. 
Dr. Palmer, be printed and placed on sale, the 
proceeds thereof to be applied towards the 
erection in this city of a suitable monument to 
General Eobert E. Lee. 

The Chair appointed as a Committee to take 
charge of the sale of these pamphlets, as soon 
as printed, the following gentlemen : Col. J. D. 



MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 51 

Blair, Capt. W. I. Hodgson, Geo. W. Hynson, 
Esq., and Col. Geo. Clark. 

On motion, it was 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Committee 
are due and are hereby tendered to Mr. Ben 
PeBar, through his agent, Major Bobert Strong, 
for the gratuitous use of the St. Charles Theatre; 
to the Xew Orleans Picayune, Bulletin and Times 
for a liberal discount on their advertising bills ; 
to the New Orleans Gas Company for a deduction 
on their bill; to Mrs. Stoddart Howell and Mrs. 
Dareantal for a donation of beautiful flowers; 
the many ladies who so kindly assisted in deco- 
rating the theatre; the young ladies of Mrs. 
Abbott's Seminary for a handsome wreath and* 
cross, and to all of those persons who so kindly 
donated material, evergreens and refreshments 
for the ladies. 

Also, the various societies and clubs for the 
use of their banners, decorations, etc. 

On motion the proceedings of this meeting 
were ordered to be published in the Bulletin, 
Picayune and Times. 

On motion the Committee adjourned, subject 
to the call of the President. 

Geo. Clark, President. 
T. Ii. Higinbotham, Secretary. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2010 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 1 6066 
(724)779-2111 



